Evaporator control means



R. H.v MONEY vEVPORATOR CONTROL MEANS May 14, 1940.

Original Filed June 8, 1937 INVENTOR. Ifo/.Awa H'. Mon/er.

ATTORNEKS.

Patented May 14, 1940 y UNITED STATE EYAPORATOB CONTROL MEANS nonna n. Money, cincinnati, om,

The Crosley Corporation, Cincinnati,

corporation of Ohio Original application 147,152. Divided an assignor to Ohio, a

June 8, 1937, Serial No.

d this application January 11, 1939, Serial No. 250,400

5 Claims.A

This application is a division of my application Serial No, 147,152, filed June 8, 1937, which has matured into Patent. No. 2,163,698, issued June 27, 1939, for Evaporator control means.

The general objects of my invention are the provision of a new and useful as well as urna--A mental combination of evaporator and controlling means; the provision. of .a new organization l of controlling means and operating means therel for; the provision of a novel defrosting indicator,

and the provision of a novel panel, illuminating meansv and mounting means for the several instrumentalities. These and ancillary objects of my invention which will be set forth hereinafter 15 or will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon reading these specifications, I accomplish by that .certain construction and arrangement lof parts of which I shall now describe an exemplary embodiment. Reference is made to the drawing o wherein:

Figure 1 is an elevational view with parts in section of the upper portion of Yan evaporator and the other parts of my assembly.

Figure 2 is a horizontal and partially sectional 25 view taken along the lines 2-2 of Figure l.

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along the lines 3-3 of Figure l.

Figure 4 is a partial perspective view of 'a defrost indicator element. A.

In the drawing, 4 indicates an evaporator. The evaporator may be of any known kind. -I-have shown an evaporator such as co-penelingapplication of Crosleyand Money, Serial No. 92,172 filed July 23, 1936, which has matured into APatent No. 2,143,976, issued January 17, 1939, and entitled Evaporators for use in refrigerator devices, but it will be understood that this does not constitute a limitation. upon my invention. The evaporator is usually provided 4o with upwardly extending mounting brackets 5 and 6, so that the from the upper part ofthe food compartment in a refrigerator, or from a base servingalso as mounting means for a motor and compressor or assembly located above the food compartment. In the illustrated example shown, the bracket 6 vextends downwardly and is attached to the upper refrigerated shelf 1 of the evaporator.

To the front edges ofthe evaporator near the 50 top thereof (or to a front edge of the evaporatnr and the front edge of the bracket bracket members 8 and 9 as by welding. These .members are bifurcated, and have `outwardly extending portions Il and II and inwardly extend- 55 ing portions I2 and I3. To these inwardlyH exthat set forth in the evaporator may be suspended l) I attach tending portions the usual temperature control switch box I4 is--mounted by means of brackets I and I6.`

A front nishing panel member 3l is mounted, by means of suitable screws or the like to the bracket member portions I0 'and II. It has hitherto been proposed to bring the adjusting shaft of the temperature control mechanism out through a panel and provide it with a knob for hand operation, together with a pointer or indicating device. This construction is, however, not particularly attractive in appearance, and

further requires that the panel and temperature control apparatus be' mounted sufficiently low in y the food compartment to permit ready hand adjustment. In my construction, I provide the adjusting shaft of the temperature control mechanism with a lever arm I1 extending downwardly behind the panel 3|. The panel is cut away as at IB to provide a scale opening. Behind this opening I provide scale means I9, which may be mounted upon the bracket means I2 and I3 or in any other suitable way, and which preferably is translucent so as to be illuminated from the rear by light means hereinafter to be described. The lever arm I 'I passes in front of the scale means. Near its outer end it is provided with an operating handle 20 whichextends far enough through the opening I8 to permit ready operation. At its outer end the lever I1 is preferably shaped to provide a pointer 2 I. The scale I9 may be provided with suitable indicia and/or colored areas as desired. 'U

Illuminating means comprising in the instance shown, a lamp bulb 22, asocket 23 'and a switch 24 are mounted upon the temperature'control switch box I4 by means of bracket members 25. The light is designed to be turned on and oi automatically by the opening and closing of the refrigerator door. To this end, I'provide an insulating operating rod 26 for the switch 24 which extends forwardly and through an appropriate perforation in the panel 3l; and is long enough to be engaged by the door, or by a ated by the door, as will be readily understood. The location ofthe lamp bulb 22 will be such as to provideillumination for the scale I9 and also for a-defrosting indicator next herein to be described. The bracket member `6 may be perforated or cut away in part so that light from the bulb 22 will serve to illuminate the interior of the food compartment of the refrigerator.

I provide a novel means far indicating the necessity of defrosting the refrigerator evaporator. As is well understood, frost and ice accumulate member actu- 55 1 lation of frost upon said evaporator and said upon an evaporatofwhen inuse and cut down its eiiiciency. The amount of ice which accumulates is variable, and depends upon such factors as the temperature of the evaporator in relationship to the amount of moisture in the surrounding air. Thus vthe times at which defrosting is advisable vary considerably with conditions and seasons; and this indicates the necessity for a reliable means for indicating how much frost has accumulated. In the practice of my invention, I

provide a perforatedvmetallic member which is highly heat conductive and is in intimate heat exchanging relationship with the evaporator. Thus this member is adapted also to accumulate frost. The size of the perforation in the member is so chosen that when frost has accumulated to a suiiicient extent to close it, defrosting is advisable. This may be ascertained either by direct examination or 4by reflected light. or by passing lightthrough the perforation.

In the embodiment shown the perforated member is indicated at 21. 'I'he size, shape and position of the member dojnot constitute limitations4 upon my invention. As shown, the member is an angularly shaped piece of metal, one leg 28 of which is soldered, brazed or welded directly to the evaporator. The other leg is perforated as at 29. The member may be made of any highly heat conductive metal. I prefer' copper. It should be heavy enough to insure the accumullation of frost thereon' as-frost accumulates on the evaporator. I'he panel 3l may be perforated as at 30 opposite `the member or opposite the hole therein. When the parts are arranged substantially as shown in Figure 1, direct light from i the bulb 22 will normally passthrough the perfoi-ation' 29 in the member 21, and will be visible to the eye through the perforation III in the panel 3l. When, however, sumcient frost has accumulated to cover the perforation 29, since this frost is granular or crystalline in formation, it will cut oi the direct illumination or so greatly cut it down as to give a clear visual indication of the necessity for defrosting.

Modifications may be made in my invention without departing from the spirit of it. Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination with a refrigerator evaporator a defrosting indicator comprising a metallic mass in intimate heat exchange relationship with said evaporator, and adapted to be covered with frost in the normal operation thereof, said metallic mass having a perforation whereby to give a visual index ofthe extent of the accumumass, said index being the amount of frost required to close said perforation.

e foration serves to affect the amount rof light passing therethrough.

3. In combination with a refrigerator evaporator a defrostingindicator comprising a me" tallic mass in intimate heat exchange relationship with said evaporator, and-adapted to be covered with frost in the normal operation thereof,

said metallic mass having aperforation whereby. to give a visual index of the extent of the accumu lation of frost upon said -evaporator and said mass, said index being the amount of frost required to close said perforation, and face plate means mounted on said evaporator and covering said metallic mass, said face plate means having a perforation disclosing the perforation in said mass.

4. In combination with a refrigerator evaporator a defrosting indicator comprising a metallic mass in intimate heat exchange relationship with said evaporator, and adapted to be covered with frost in'the normal operation thereof, said metallic mass having a perforation whereby to give a visual index of the extent of the accumulation of frost upon said evaporator and said mass, said index being the amount of frost required to close said perforation and a light source located essentially behindsaid mass from an observer so that the accumulation of frost in said perforation serves to affect the amount of light passing therethrough, and face plate means mounted on said evaporator and covering said metallic mass,

saidface plate means having a perforation disclosing the perforation in said mass.

5. In combination with the evaporator of a refrigerating mechanism, a defrosting indicator comprising .a metal body in intimate heat exchange relationship with said evaporator, said metal body having a perforation adapted to be closed by an accumulation of frost on said body, the size of said perforation being so chosen with reference to the heat conductivity of said bodyand the heat transfer between said body and said evaporator'as to indicate, when closed by n frost, an accumulation of frost on said evaporator suflicient to make defrosting advisable. ROLAND H. MONEY. 

